University Hospitals is among the first in the country to secure clinical trials to test an investigational antiviral drug against patients who have COVID-19, a disease caused by a new coronavirus, according to a news release.

"This is some promising news in the midst of this COVID-19 situation," said Dr. Daniel Simon, chief clinical and scientific officer and president of UH Cleveland Medical, in a prepared statement. "Our UH research team has worked closely with the manufacturer, Gilead, in recent days to secure the studies. We are grateful to be one of the first sites in the U.S. to participate in these clinical trials. Both trials are now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and our Institutional Review Board, and we are expecting shipment of the experimental drug remdesivir in the next couple of days."

Remdesivir demonstrated activity against COVID-19 infection in animal studies and has been shown to be safe and tolerable, based on a safety database of more than 500 people who received remdesivir in Ebola and early phase studies to date, according to the release.

The first trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of two different remdesivir regimens and compare that to the standard of care by measuring the proportion of participants discharged on or before the 14th day of their hospitalization, according to the release. The primary goal of the other trial is to evaluate the efficacy of two different remdesivir regimens and their ability to normalize patients' temperature and oxygen saturation, through day 14.

Dr. Grace McComsey, vice president of research and associate chief scientific officer at UH, will lead the studies, which will be conducted by the UH Clinical Research Center, according to the release.

"The need for rigorous, professionally conducted research — activity that goes on every day in our UH Clinical Research Center — is critical in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic," McComsey said in a prepared statement. "There is no established treatment for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The trials we are preparing to conduct are especially significant because they test an active antiviral treatment, rather than just supportive care."

UH will open the two COVID-19 clinical trials at UH Cleveland Medical Center, and it hopes to open them at UH Ahuja, Parma and St. John medical center. The system is also exploring and assessing other trials, according to the release

"The goal, as always, is to ensure access to the most novel treatments for our UH patients and the communities we serve," Simon said.